The Inspector remains calm and reserved throughout the play, expressing his opinion clinically, without involvement. This serves to make him appear as a much more intelligent character than the Birlings, who become emotionally involved in the play and as such behave irrationally. This emotional detachment could be as a result of him being a ghost, which is connoted by the Inspector introducing himself by the name ‘Goole’.
He chooses to ignore the multiple times when the senior Birlings attempt to state their higher status and use it to control the play. This represents Priestley’s socialist roots, where he believes that everyone is equal.
As soon as the Inspector enters, the lighting changes from ‘pink and intimate’ as would befit a family party, to ‘brighter and harder’ which would be more suited to an interrogation. This mirrors the change that the Inspector makes on both the characters and the plot.
The character shows an opinion that would be extremely radical for the time in which the play was set – that women are people, and that the opinion of ‘young women ought to be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things’ is wrong. This could mean that the Inspector is the voice of Priestley in the play.
The Inspector could also be the moral conscience of the play. He forces each character to accept their guilt in Eva Smith’s death, and also encourages the characters to formulate their own opinions about right and wrong as the play progresses. This effect is mainly noticed on Sheila and Eric, but this could be because people like the Inspector ‘often have more of an effect on the young ones’. He closes his interaction with ‘if men will not learn that lesson [people are responsible], then they will be taught it in blood and fire and anguish.” This is a reference to the Great War (World War 1) that took place two years later because of Germany treating other countries badly and demanding more land. Priestley uses irony in relation to this, as Birling says ‘Nobody wants war... too much at stake these days.’ This clearly shows the poor grasp of reality that the Birling family has.
Repetition is used throughout the play to emphasise the fact that Eva Smith is dead. This is used to increase the hold that he has on the characters, particularly Sheila and Eric, who seem more vulnerable and are ‘more impressionable’. Priestley also uses short sentences which are direct to the point to retain control of the narrative – often interrupting other characters in the process. This could be seen as rudeness on the Inspector’s part, but also could be that he doesn’t think the others deserve special treatment because of their status.
The play is structured so that each act finishes on a cliff-hanger created by the Inspector – such as “Well?” as the closing statement in Act One. This helps to increase the tension and also to an extent shows us that the Inspector is the ultimate power in the play, which reinforced the suggestion that he is either a ghostly conscience or Priestley’s voice.
The Inspector displays intimate knowledge of the events, and supplements the information that he does not pretend to know with carefully targeted questions. This forces not only the characters, but the audience as well, to second guess both themselves and the Inspector.
In conclusion, the Inspector is used for a range of functions by the author in order to achieve the greatest effect and to create the largest impact on the play, but the prevailing theme is that the Inspector is there in order to promote good values, and this is clearly shown in the opinions he states.